Happy Sunday! Welcome to Holy Shift, where we highlight big innovations in the auto and racing industries each week—whether they be necessary or simply for comfort.

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With an absence of illuminated turn signals, cars can be a bit more dangerous at night. We as humans discovered that early on, beginning to dream up ways to make vehicles more fit for the darker hours right around the turn of the 20th century. But, as expected, early attempts weren’t all that efficient.

It took until about 1919 for rear lamps to exist on a majority of cars, but their main purpose at the time was simply to illuminate license plates. Ideas for turn signals popped up throughout the first half of the 20th century as well, but electrical turn signals weren’t widely used until midway through the 1950s.

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Until the electrical signal finally caught on, efforts to communicate a change of direction during the daytime consisted mainly of arm gestures. That proved to influence the appearance of signals on cars, too. If you think that putting fake eyelashes above headlights is a weird trend (it is), it’s no weirder than the standard, non-human turn signals back in their early days.

Some of the early light signals copied the original artificial signals (e.g., turn signals were luminous arms that unfolded from the body of the car, similar to driver and bicyclist arm signals). Because the meanings of abstract signals have to be learned and, after some time, are overlearned and generally understood, engineers hesitate to radically change signals.

But something did have to be done to make cars safer, for more than just driving in dim lighting. From Historical Development and Current Effectiveness:

Another reason for the development of special motor vehicle signals was the fact that automobiles became covered with roofs and windows. It was no longer possible for other road users to clearly see the driver, or gestures the driver might make.

If you have suggestions for future innovations to be featured on Holy Shift—in street cars, the racing industry or whatever you’d like—feel free to leave them in the comments section. The topic range is broad, so don’t hesitate with your ideas.